House to Home

Do your kids think that you are totally the coolest? Unless they are under the age of 9, likely you are shaking your head no. Let’s put it this way, when you tell them that they don’t need the pair of $120 designer jeans, do they roll their eyes and assume that you don’t know what it is like to be cool? It’s okay you aren’t alone in this. When I came across “11 Frugal Habits of the Super Rich”, I thought, “hey, now I have some ammo”. If you too need to be able to tell your child that Beyoncé likes to save money or Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook) wears the same thing all the time then you are in the right place! Below is a list of 11 frugal habits of the super-rich:

Stephanie at Six Figures Under shared what I think is the greatest illustration about our thinking behind financial training; “If you were totally new to knitting, but wanted to learn how to make the cute washcloths your friend was always making, would you want her to give you a general overview and not bother you with specifics or would you want her to sit down with you and show you her secrets step-by-step?”. Genius, am I right? For so many of us, we use general terms and overviews without getting into the nitty gritty of finances. But the more knowledge and experience we can give our kids the more successful they are likely to be, this is especially true when it comes to their financial future.

Discussion of which college is the right fit is often an emotional quest for the student and parents alike. There are so many options, liberal arts school, large research university, small school close to home—guidance counselors talk about finding a school that offers an atmosphere that fits the student and suits their academic pursuits. One aspect of selecting a college that can sometimes be overlooked or kept as more of an afterthought is, how will the costs be covered? Losing sight of the financial consequences of their decisions can leave families of college-bound students scrambling to figure out how they will pay for it all.

Today’s topic is something that is near to my heart. Student loan debt has had a significant effect on my life and the lives of many other Americans. In fact, “today, there is a student debt class like no other: about 42 million Americans bearing $1.3 trillion in student debt”, according to Consumer Reports, “that’s altering lives, relationships, and even retirement.” This is found especially true in our industry of home financing, Ryan Ramsey, one of Stockton Mortgage’s top Mortgage Bankers recounts, “I have had many conversations with college graduates, that due to student loan debt, it will be years or decades before they will be able to buy a home.” Obtaining loans to cover one’s education costs is often a decision made early in our adult lives and sadly, as mentioned several times in this series of blog posts, young people don’t have enough knowledge when it comes to their finances to make solid, confident decisions. So, we find that many end up in a situation far from what we imagined—what we trusted, our college education, to give us a better future than that of our parents, leaves us with a large monthly bill and fear of inability to pay. In fact, Consumer Reports shares that many do end up defaulting in their payments, “one in four borrowers are behind in their payments, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with an estimated 7.6 million in default.”

Often we, adults (even if sometimes we don’t feel like we are “adulting”), know the right thing to do but changing habits are hard! Especially when it comes to the financial aspect of our lives. But here is the kicker, we know when we have made a decision that is outside the good habits that we are striving to achieve, however, our kids, particularly the young ones, think we always make the right decisions so they see our bad ones and note them as the right thing to do! YIKES! The only way to overcome these errors is to outweigh them with doing the right thing so these become their habits. In addition to discussing finances with your kids and encouraging them to earn and save, lets focus on us as parents becoming great examples! By setting an achievable monthly goal, you can become a great example to your kids and by doing this you will set them up for their own financial success.

“A New Year, A New You” “365 New Chances” “A New Year is the Beginning of Anything You Want” When I looked up quotes about a new year these are a few I found. They all center around possibility and positive change. For one, I’m not big on new year’s resolutions because I know for me, if it is really something I want to change about myself then why wait until January 1st to start? But for the rest of the world I know they are out setting goals for 2018! Have you thought about goals you could set with your children to assist in educating them? Sure flashcards and sight words are great but what about teaching them something they are likely not being taught in school? I’m talking about financial education, how to make smart decisions with money even at a young age.

Last week the U.S. Senate passed legislation that’s headed for the President’s desk that will lower the FHA owner-occupancy requirements and change other FHA regulations. What does this mean in the long run?

Thanks to an infographic based on a recent report from Chase Mortgage Banking, “Insights from the Mind of the Modern Homebuyer”, a sample of 1,014 adults in the U.S revealed some interesting findings about today’s homebuyer.